Fairy
Tail
began airing in Japan in October of 2009. Over 100 episodes have been
produced
to date. The series is based upon the successful manga series created
by Hiro Mashima.
It stands out as one of the most notable recent anime series through a
balanced
combination of quirky science-fiction, fantasy, and an abundance of
humor that
keep things consistently interesting. The series is also action-packed
and
focuses on a guild made up of extremely powerful wizards. The series
follows
the Fairy Tail guild (not a big surprise there!) and
the heroes
that make up the band of quirky magicians seem goofy, well-spirited,
and
willing to work together as necessary to complete any mission.

The
characters on the show are a central reason as to why the series works
so well.
It's the character element that grabs the audience attention the most.
The
central characters in the series are Natsu, a fire-breathing man with
dragon
skills and possible background, Lucy, an energetic girl who collects
port-keys
which unleash spirit being's with enough energy to win against any
potential
threats of the Fairy Tail guild, and
Gray... a guy who has tons of skills and who always happens to take his
shirt
off somehow. There's also a comedic blue cat with the guild who is
close
friends with Natsu. The cat's name is Happy. Happy has wings and is
capable of
flying. Another strong supporting character is found with the tough
fighter
Elza.

Each
character contributes something to these adventures being so humorous,
exciting, and thrilling. Early episodes don't feature quite as much
character
development as one might be hoping for but there is a strong
likeability factor
for each of the main characters featured on the show and it helps to
keep in
consistent in entertainment.

Fans
of comedy and action will want to give this series a chance. Fairy Tail is an immensely enjoyable
show. The best thing about this series is that it is a ton of
fun. It
isn't the most complicated of shows (at least this far into the run)
but the
cast of fun characters and offbeat situations makes it an easy show to
enjoy
without having to over-think it at all.

The
premise is enjoyable and the execution of the creative elements works
effectively
so it isn't surprising that the series has been able to find mass
popularity
and appeal in Japan. Fairy Tail is a winning combination of
some of
anime's finest fantasy/ sci-fi genre aspects.

The Set:
#3 -
Episodes 25-36:

First
the good news: Fairy Tail has proven
itself. It remains an entertaining show that easily stands out as one
of the
more interesting new anime series to be produced over the last several
years.
Now the downside (or flip-side, if you will): This is only the third
box-set
release from Funimation and things are already starting to show some
signs of
slowing down a bit. (Cough.)

This
collection begins with a multi-episode arc conclusion to the long
storyline
which began to unravel during the previous set. This particular story
was centered
upon a rivaling guild that began to be a menacing-foe to our Fairy Tail
guild
heroes when it decided that it was going to attack the establishment
and all of
the magical people who help inhabit Fairy Tail. Things were shaping up
to a
massive battle between both sides and the future of our main guild
folks was
all up to the lead characters ability to resolve the issue and set
things
right. Sounds interesting on paper but somehow the writers forgot that
the best
thing about this series has been the characters and the focus on them
gets
momentarily lost in the shuffle.

These
episodes dragged a bit. It just wasn't as much fun or exciting or well
written
or fun or... oh yeah, I already mentioned the fun part. You get the idea.
The
writing became stiff, the characters less-dimensional (is this 1D I'm
seeing on
my 2D display?!) and the payoff simply didn't seem to be worth the
wait. Yet
one waits for the conclusion anyway (who in anime-fandom ever skips the
filler
episodes?), and it was a bore to sit through so many mundane action
sequences
and to try and keep up with the establishment of these new "villainy"
characters
who are barely properly introduced to viewers for us to understand
fundamentally the reason behind the storyline's existence. Sounds
harsh, unfortunately.
Fairy Tail seemed to be spinning out
of its own story in a matter of a few episodes. That wasn't what I
expected
going into this set and it wasn't something I was pleased to see.

Maybe
the original manga did better. The biggest issue with this long-run
story is
that it feels cobbled together and without enough glue to actually
manage to
keep all of these large puzzle pieces in place. Each episode just feels
unfocused and as if the writers and crew were simply buying time until
they
could think up something better to tell.

>

<>

>

The
storyline does resolve a few episodes in and it ends the longest run of
sub-par
episodes to date on Fairy Tail. Things
started to pick up pretty quickly afterwards and by the time I'd
reached the
final group of episodes on the set there wasn't significant doubt over
the
future of Fairy Tail. I was enjoying this
lighthearted and breezily enjoyable series again. It was the surprise
of finding
such a poorly-constructed storyline early in the show's run that was
most disconcerting.
I want to see Fairy Tail succeed as a
consistent series that warrants the time and energy spent in its
entirety.
Perhaps that's too much to ask, but for now it's nice to see that even
with
some bumps the show already understands how to bounce back to the good
material.

This
is a series that is at its most enjoyable when it sits back, breathes a
little,
and allows for viewers to enjoy the goofball characterizations, deeper
moments,
and sheer hilarity of what ensues in the frequently great standalone
episodes.
It is also a wonder to just notice how detailed and beautiful the
animation can
be. It often is.

Some
of the standout episodes on this set were the ones that only spent 30
minutes
to tell a story. There are episodes on Set 3 with more background
history for
our lead characters, and another episode even has them performing a
theatrical
performance to help out a new acquaintance meet the success of his
longtime dream.
These are the kinds of stories on the show that interest me the most
and that
show promise for Fairy Tail to remain
what should be a long-term success. There is one multi-episode arc
later on the set that focuses on a Celestial Spirit character. It is a
surprisingly brisk and effective arc that worked wonders -- it all
depends on a number of factors. If
you haven't jumped on board this anime series just yet don't let my
initial disappointment in this set dissuade you from giving it a
chance. The show has lots of
potential left that I hope to see fulfilled over the course of many
more
sure-to-be enjoyable adventures. Begin at the beginning and be prepared
to have
a pretty good time (at least in most measures).

The
Blu-ray:

Video:

Fairy
Tail
is presented in a combo pack release which contains both DVD and
Blu-ray discs.
The Blu-ray presentation is an upscaled 1080p transfer that presents
the series
with strong, bold colors and good line detail. The transfer is somewhat
soft
because of the nature of an upscale presentation. These episodes were
originally animated to be presented in Standard Definition. Funimation
has done
an excellent job with this upscaled release. It delivers the series in
a solid upscaled
SD presentation in the original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1
widescreen.
The video quality is every bit as impressive for this third set of Fairy Tail.

Audio:

Fans
are treated to two lossless audio options (which are both encoded as
Dobly
TrueHD tracks). English 5.1 surround sound provides a slightly more
enveloping
aural experience with better use of sound effects and music
reproduction, while
the 2.0 original Japanese language dub is relegated to having a
slightly less
expansive soundstage. When viewing Fairy
Tail's first set I opted more for the original language track but
this time
around (as with the second collection) the English track won over
frequently.
It's a pretty good dub, and the third set seems to demonstrate a solid
investment made into adapting the series.

Please
Note:

The
images in this review are taken
from the DVD discs included in this Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack.

Extras:

The
selection of bonus materials is limited on each of the Funimation Fairy
Tail
DVD set releases. Funimation included select staff commentaries,
text-less
opening/ending songs, and trailers promoting other anime
series
released by the studio.

Commentaries are
included on the
following episodes of Fairy Tail: Set 3:

Episode
26: Wings of
Flame

Episode
32: Celestial
Spirit King

Final
Thoughts:

There
comes a time in any long-running show where it
might face a weak storyline. Fairy Tail
has already found one of those moments with this third set release. The
episodes are generally better when they remain simplistic in approach
and
emphasis the journey these characters are on above anything else. These
weren't
amongst the best episodes of Fairy Tail.
Some of the stories were enjoyable and others were disappointing. Just
so it's
clear: stick around and see where the show goes to next even if this
set wasn't
a delicious slice, oozing with chocolate-syrup on fluffy cake. The
concluding
episodes promise that it has a great deal of energy left to tell many
more
excellent stories. I'm curious to see where the show leads itself to
going
forward. Recommended.

Neil Lumbard is a lifelong fan of cinema, and a student who aspires to make movies. He loves writing, and currently does in Texas.